Runners are great...check ebay or a carpet remnants place, tell them what you are looking for....good luck

First of all, does he have hip or those problems? Get that checked out first to make sure its not a health issue.

For wooden steps going down to the basement, I mixed sand with floor paint --- that made the stairs safe for people and animals. That was 6 years ago and the stairs have never needed to be repainted. It is certainly cheaper than runners or stair treads.

Our GSD, 3 y.o when obtained from an animal shelter a year ago, had serious problems navigating the wood stairs from the 2nd floor down to the first.

Turned out it was probably that he hadn't been exposed to that situation before. After several months of daily treks, he was doing fine.

He does not have movement problems, but has not been exposed to steps before. Our rescue group (Great Dane) requires steps to be carpeted. The paint with sand would work too. I think that practice will help him, but feel that he needs a less slippery surface as well.

cocooner

I put runner material on the metal steps on the RV. It makes it so it's not so slick for the dogs. Also, I didn't want them to snag a toenail in the little perforated holes. However, I did run the pattern against the steps. The runner material had grooves cut in the pile of the material. So I made the grooves run across the steps, not down the steps. I wanted the grooves to help the dogs from sliding down the stairs. Hopefully, that makes sense. So if you do a runner look for a pattern/weave that will help him stop as he's going down the stairs.

I honestly think he'll learn the steps. My dogs have very long legs and it can take up to 3 months for a new dog to learn and then feel confident on full flights of bare hardwood stairs. This is something you DO want the dog to learn to deal with, as you never know when you will run into bare wood stairs in the 'real world.' Give him time and help him along by walking right next to him (have him hugging which ever side of the stairs has a wall) and put bits of hot dog or something stinky a few steps up. He'll surprise you :) A leash can make him feel more confident too. My old guy is now having trouble with the hardwood stairs, so I put his collar and leash on, walk close and slowly next to him and that gives him confidence.